Gina Rinehart

59
Executive Chair
Hancock Prospecting
Australia
Earning about a billion dollars a year from iron ore and coal projects in western and northern Australia, Rinehart’s fortune of $17 billion makes her the richest person in Australia and one of the richest women in the world. She self-published a book in November, attracting global criticism of her view that with African workers willing to work for less than $2 a day, Australians should work harder and accept a lower minimum wage.